French Open: Sania Mirza mixes perfectly well with Mahesh Bhupathi to win their second Grand Slam together

Sania Mirza and Mahesh Bhupathi won their second Grand Slam title together and first French Open trophy after crushing the challenge of Klaudia Jans-Ignacik and Santiago Gonzalez in the mixed doubles final, here on Thursday. Playing their third Grand Slam final together, the seventh seeded Indian pair scored a 7-6 (3) 6-1 win over the Polish-Mexican pair in one hour and 13 minutes at the Court Philippe Chatrier, says a report in The Indian Express.

It is second career Grand Slam title for Sania while 12th Major trophy for Bhupathi, who now has won eight mixed doubles trophies.  Sania and Bhupathi had won the 2009 Australia Open and it is their first Grand Slam title since then. Sania had become first woman tennis player from India to win a Grand Slam with that Australian Open trophy.

Leander Paes is the most successful Indian tennis player with 13 Grand Slam titles, seven of which are men's doubles trophies with various partners. With this win, Sania and Bhupathi sent out a warning to the players worldwide that they will be the force to reckon with at the upcoming London Olympics.
“My partner (Bhupathi) is one of th best doubles players in the world and I am lucky to be his partner,” Sania said, according to a report in The Times Of India.

Multiple doubles grand slam winner Bhupathi said this one was special. “This is my first since becoming a father,” said Bhupathi who turned 38 years on Thursday. “This one is for her,” he added.

Meanwhile Maria Sharapova reached her first French Open final and reclaimed the No. 1 ranking by beating fourth-seeded Petra Kvitova 6-3, 6-3 on Thursday, moving within one victory of completing a career Grand Slam, says newspaper reports.

The second-seeded Sharapova lost her two previous Roland Garros semifinals. She’ll face 21st-seeded Sara Errani of Italy with a chance to add to major championships she won at Wimbledon in 2004, the US Open in 2006, and the Australian Open in 2008. Sharapova would be the 10th woman with a title from each major.

Sharapova lost to Kvitova in last year's Wimbledon final, and to Victoria Azarenka in the Australian Open final in January.

That propelled Azarenka to No. 1, but Sharapova will return to that spot for the first time since 2008 no matter what happens Saturday.

Earlier, Errani crushed the French Open hopes of Samantha Stosur of Australia on Thursday, reaching her first Grand Slam final with a 7-5, 1-6, 6-3 win.